All quiet on the transfer front....

Considering the transfer window opens in a few hours, there is surprisingly little in the Press connecting City to anyone.

It could prove a quiet month on that front with Roberto Mancini saying he can’t afford to sell anyone with injuries, suspensions and the loss of the Toure brothers for five weeks decimating his squad.

So we’ll begin with Stuart Brennan’s report in the MEN claiming the Blues will appeal Samir Nasri’s red card against Norwich, freeing him up for tomorrow’s game with Stoke.

He reports: “Nasri will be free to play against Stoke tomorrow as City are appealing his red card at Norwich.

“The Blues had until 1pm today to submit notice that they want the midfielder’s dismissal to be reviewed by an FA regulatory commission, which will now take place later in the week.

“The decision to appeal – made 24 hours before the deadline – runs the risk of Nasri’s three-match ban for violent conduct being extended by up to three matches, although one would be the normal punishment if the commission decides the appeal was frivolous or an attempt to work the system.”

One of the few transfer snippets around is on TalkSPORT’s website where they suggest City will compete with Juventus in an attempt to reinforce the squad: “Juventus have put together a player-plus-cash package in order to beat Manchester City to Sampdoria star Pedro Obiang,” they report.

“The midfielder has been linked with City for some time now, while the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have both watched him in the past.

“It appeared as if City were favourites to land Obiang, though, but Juventus have now come forward. Sampdoria are adamant they won't sell their star in January but they are keen on Juve full-back Paolo De Ceglie - and there could be a deal involving the player.

“Juventus are ready to offer £5m plus De Ceglie and they reckon that could swing the deal for Obiang in their favour.”

Finally, in The Sun, Ben Hunt focuses on Edin Dzeko’s plea for a sustained run in the first team. The Bosnian striker, who scored twice and was denied a hat-trick by a Mark Bunn own goal, wants to be the solution to the Blues’ goal-scoring problems in the New Year.

Hunt writes: “Dzeko took his tally for City to nine goals for the season — despite starting most games on the bench.

“And he hopes his display against Norwich has done enough to convince City boss Mancini that he deserves to start games ahead of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli.

‘Dzeko said: “The manager gave me the chance to play today and I think I paid him back. It’s always good when you score with your first chance, especially when it is in the first minute, but every goal I’m happy with.

‘I saw something in the papers about the forwards not being in form and scoring but we scored today, so that’s good for us.

‘I don’t know why we have not scored as many goals as last season. We have had chances to score. But that’s football, sometimes you score so many goals and sometimes you can’t.’”